


Writing Away Worries

by orphan_account



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-06
Updated: 2016-01-18
Packaged: 2018-05-12 03:43:57
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,894
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5651305
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jean is a relatively new up and coming author and is pushed to his limit when he is told to finish his novel in three months. He decides to blow off steam with his friend Marco and ends up meeting a steely man that may be closer to him than he originally thought.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Dancing Away Worries

Jean threw his jacket on his couch and kicked a waste basket, its waded paper contents spilling onto the floor. He dropped onto his couch next to his jacket and put his elbows on his knees, leaning his head into his hands and running his fingers through his hair.

“This is so stupid,” He hissed to himself. “I can’t finish a novel in three months.” He could feel a migraine beginning to form, causing his temples to pulse with ferocity. He sighed and stood up, walking to his room to get some medicine and then to the kitchen to get a glass of water. As the cup filled with the translucent liquid, he thought about the meeting he had just come from.

* * *

 

“What do you mean the due date changed?” Jean demanded, standing and bringing his fist down on the round table at his publisher’s building.

“I’m sorry, Jean, this is news to me too,” the blonde man in a black suit apologized.

“Look, _Mr. Smith,_ ” Jean began, sitting back down and grinding his teeth in a failing attempt to hold in his anger. “I don’t know if you’ve ever tried to write a book, but it takes _at least_ a year, you should know that.”

“I know that, but it isn’t my call, there’s nothing I can do, it’s either three months or nothing,” Erwin shrugged.

Jean was almost shaking in anger. _I can’t do this,_ he thought. _I started this book two months ago._

“Why does it have to be so soon?” Jean inquired, his fury simmering down a little.

“Well…” Erwin started uncertainly.

“What is it, Erwin?”

“My boss isn’t sure we should keep you on…”

“What do you mean? Why?”

“He said that since your last book didn’t do as well…” Erwin noticed Jean’s rage building up again and quickly tried to do a little damage control. “I’m sure it was just a fluke, your next book will do so much better.” Erwin assured the intense twenty-six year old.

“Hmph,” Jean huffed, standing and leaving the conference room. “Tell your boss he’ll have a story in three months.” With that, Jean was gone and Erwin released a sigh of relief.

Erwin tidied the papers around him and mumbled to himself. “How does a boy like that write such amazing literature?”

Jean stopped in front of the building and called his mom who had told him to call her after his meeting.

“Hey Jeanbo, how did it go?” She inquired.

Jean let out a small, forced laugh. “I told you that you don’t have to ask me about boring work stuff anymore, I understood when I first started out, but now it’s just mundane paperwork and meetings.”

“I just like to know how my favorite child is doing,” Jean could hear her radiant smile through the phone.

He started walking to his car, which was right by the entrance, and got in before he retorted. “I’m your only child ma, it would be really sad if I _wasn’t_ your favorite child.”

She giggled at that. “I don’t know, that Marco boy is like a son. When was the last time you talked to him? I know you’ve been busy lately, but you need a social life hun.”

Jean thought for a moment, sitting still at his steering wheel, his car in park. “I think,” Jean looked blankly ahead in thought. “It most’ve been two months ago at that Christmas party at Connie and Sasha’s house.”

“ _Jean_ ,” she gasped. “ _You need to call that boy as soon as you get off the phone with me,_ ” the authority in her voice made Jean feel like a rebellious teenager again.

“Okay ma, I love ya, I’ll call Marco,” he promised.

“Alright hun, call me again in the next few days, I love you,” she made a kissing sound in the phone and hung up.

Jean moved his phone away from his face and was about to call Marco when Eren fucking Yeagar knocked on his driver’s side window. Jean groaned and rolled down his window.

“What do you want?” Jean lashed out at the brunette, his cocky smile making Jean even more pissed.

“Whoa,” Eren feigned fright and raised his hands in defense. “What’s got you all mad? Could it be that the big man wants to can you?”

Jean grabbed Eren by the collar and pulled him closer to his window. “Look Yeagar, I’m not in the mood for your stupid games, what the fuck do you want? Or did you just come over here to get your ass handed to you?” Jean smiled malevolently, nothing made him happier than tearing Eren down from his high horse.

“Ya know what Yeagar? Nevermind,” Jean let the boy go and laughed. “This was a nice exchange, I’ll see you later asshole,” Jean waved and peeled out of the parking lot.

* * *

 

Jean’s attention was drawn back to the present as he felt water trickling down his hand from the overflowing glass he was holding. Jean turned off the water quickly and put the pill in his mouth, taking a long drink of water to get the relieving pill to go down.

“Shit, I forgot to call Marco,” Jean muttered, going to the couch and picking his phone out of his jacket pocket. He went to his contacts and clicked on a picture of him and his best friend from when they were still in college.

Jean brought the phone up to his ear and walked over to one of the large windows that covered the wall and faced the city. Being an author didn’t pay much until you were one of the big stars in the business, lucky for Jean, he won a writing contest and got big almost immediately out of college.

The phone rang three times before a familiar voice answered. “Jean! I haven’t talked to you in a while, how are you?”

Jean was surprised by the sincerity in his friend’s voice. “I’m good Marco, how’ve you been?” He couldn’t help the little twinge of excitement that came from talking to his friend.

“I’ve been doing pretty good…I’m actually at work right now…” Marco trailed off.

“Oh, I’m sorry, I can call you back later-“ Jean began.

“Hey, you know what? You should come down, it’ll be fun,” Marco invited.

“I don’t-“ Jean stopped himself. “Fuck it, I need a break from my job, what’s the address?”

Marco cheered and rattled off the address. Jean was half-way through the door when he remembered that he had no idea what Marco did. Jean shrugged and continued to his car, it’s probably as a waiter or something, Marco was still in school to become a psychologist so he probably didn’t have a full time job. 

Jean drove in the yellow-orange dusk that the sun provided. He began to notice that he was getting closer to the center of downtown. Now that Jean thought about where Marco might work he realized how secretive Marco had been about what he did. He would always change the subject or say that he need to do something really quick.

Something close to fear began to develop deep in Jean’s stomach. Jean scoffed at himself. _How bad could it be? This is Marco,_ Jean comforted himself with these thoughts as he drew nearer to his destination.

Jean blinked several times before he was able to believe where he was. Jean was in front of a multi-gender strip club. He was just about to turn back when he saw Marco standing in front of the door, waving at him in an outfit that left little to the imagination.

Jean quickly parked his car across the street on the curb and half-jogged to Marco

“What the fuck Marco? Could you have at least warned me?” Jean huffed when he reached his friend.

“But then you might not have come,” Marco grinned, pulling a reluctant Jean into the strip club. As Jean was tugged to the back of the club, he anxiously scanned the crowd for anyone he knew.

Once they got to the Employees Only area, Marco promptly sat Jean down in a chair and grabbed an outfit, shoving it in his arms.

“Put that on,” Marco ordered, bringing Jean back to his feet and pushing him into a dressing room and locking the door. “I’m not letting you out until you put that on,” Jean knew that Marco wasn’t bluffing so he pulled the tight leather outfit around his body. It was hard to call what he was wearing an “outfit”, it consisted of black leather straps that connected the soles of his feet to his hips, something that Jean could only describe as leather booty shorts, a black leather cap that was snug on his head so it wouldn’t fall off during a routine, a weird black choker, and black leather boots that reached to just below his knees. After he was done, he called for Marco.

Marco swung open the door and gasped, the same way someone’s mother might gasp when they saw them in their wedding dress for the first time. Jean wasn’t uncomfortable in the outfit, it wasn’t exactly foreign to him.

“Can I please change back Marco?” Jean sighed. “I played dress-up, can I just go home.”

Marco put on a sinister grin and shook his head. “You need to dance,” Marco pointed at the stairs that lead to the stage.

Jean’s eyes went wide and he was about to say something in protest when Marco interjected. “I know that you were a stripper before.”

“That was for _two months_ Marco, I just did it because I was a broke college kid, and again _only two months_ and what if someone recognizes me? I’m a pretty well-known author ya know?” Jean argued.

“If you keep your hat on low then people shouldn’t be able to recognize you, and I know that you’ve been stressed out at work, so compared to this it shouldn’t be too bad,” Marco smiled innocently.

” _Have you been talking to my mom?_ ” Jean inquired

“Hey, your mom’s a cool lady, and she can make a kick ass apple pie,” Marco defended himself.

Jean shifted in his leather outfit, which barely covered anything, and agreed. This is how memories are made, but these memories were also the reasons why he doesn’t go to random places with Marco.

“Yay!” Marco hugged his friend and then pulled away, nudging him in the ribs with his elbow. “There are all kinds of genders out there, I know how you like your verity.”

“Marco…” Jean sighed and didn’t finish his thought.

“Oh,” Marco piped up. “You’re next by the way.”

“Marco!” Jean exclaimed, "I don’t even know what song-“

“I’ve got it taken care of,” Marco winked and the song that was playing slowly started getting quieter, signaling the end of the current performance. “Go get ‘em!” Marco encouraged as Jean hesitantly walked to the steps.

Jean suddenly thought of something. “Marco, what about my na-“

“Up next to the stage is, Marco’s Bitch,” a voice announced.

“Marco you son of a-!” Jean was about to yell at Marco when music started playing.

Jean instantly recognized the song. _That motherfucker, I’m gonna kick his ass for this,_ Jean thought as he strutted onstage.

_“I wanna see your peacock-cock-cock, your peacock-cock-cock…”_

Jean shimmied with the music and eventually got to the pole which was when his act really got started. He hated to admit it, but pole dancing was kind of relaxing in its own way. It was nice to just let your body be controlled by the music and, though he never said it, he liked the attention he got from it, all eyes were on him as he twisted and turned on and around the pole. Before Jean wanted, the song was over and he left the stage, several more dollars now in his possession.

“Wow, you did well,” Marco nodded at the wads of bills in Jean’s hands.

Jean smiled smugly. “You seem surprised.”

Marco scoffed and sat in a chair, crossing his legs and crossing his arms. “I just didn’t think a guy as clumsy as you would be able to dance at all, let alone with all the nerves of an audience watching you,” Marco smiled slyly. “I guess you like the attention more than I thought.”

“I didn’t like anything about that!” Jean lied, going into the changing room and putting on the clothes he walked into the club in. He stuffed the wadded ones in his pockets and came out of the small white room.

“I’m going to the bar, I’ll see you later Marco,” Jean waved as Marco finished applying some blush to his cheeks.

“See ya later fam,” Marco waved back, looking at Jean through a mirror.

Jean emerged from the employees only room and into the bustling strip club. He winced as bright lights shone through the dark room without warning, temporarily blinding him. He cautiously made his way to the bar and sat down on one of the only open stools.

Jean sighed and the bartender came up to him with a napkin and a tall glass filled with a light yellow liquid.

“This is from the girl over there,” Jean followed the bartender’s gesture and saw a woman wearing a red cocktail dress waving at him. He waved back and lifted the glass slightly in appreciation before taking a big swing from it.

The taste nearly made him gag, but it dulled his senses a bit so that his anxiety went down a tad. He had gulped down about half of it when he felt someone tap his shoulder. He turned to look up at the source, but saw no one there, he was just about to turn around when he looked down. A short man stood looking up at him slightly, a slight glint of anger in his eyes. Jean figured it was either from the not looking down thing or this guy was a homophobe. Either way, Jean prepared himself for a fight.

“Hello,” the other man started the conversation, it didn’t sound like he wanted to fight, but Jean stayed on guard.

“Hello,” Jean answered in kind.

“Look,” the man started, his eyes a little glazed from either the buzz that came from a few drinks or lust. “I never do this…but here,” the man handed Jean a piece of paper.

Jean took the paper and looked at it, it was a phone number and a name, _Levi_. Jean looked back up to the man and gave him a smile as he sized him up. He was handsome, he had a nice face and cruel eyes, Jean could see himself getting dangerously close to this man. He _wanted_ to get dangerously close to this man.

Jean opened his mouth to say something but was cut short by the raven haired man. “You fit my “type” and that doesn’t happen often so that’s why…” Levi gestured to the paper in Jean’s hand. “I don’t want to have sex with you, just call me when you’re ready for a date,” and then he left.

Jean stared in shock as the man disappeared into the crowd then Jean smirked before he finished his drink and left the club. Something about that man was oddly familiar, Jean felt like he was so close to knowing, but his thoughts soon drifted away from the stranger as he blasted the music in his car and started driving home.


	2. Planning Away Worries

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jean is set back again in his attempt to finish his book and decides to call the man he met at the club for a distraction.

Jean woke up to an unwelcome light shining in his eyes. He winced as the bothersome rays of sunlight overtook his sight and temporarily blinded him.

“Get up sleepy head!” An annoyingly chipper voice greeted him.

“Shut up Historia,” Jean groaned, turning so that he wasn’t facing the happy blonde.

“Hey asshat, don’t talk to my girlfriend that way!” Ymir growled.

“Sorry Historia, I forgot about your unfortunate position in this relationship with Ymir,” Jean chuckled to himself and held his head as it throbbed in pain. _I didn’t even have that much to drink._

Before he was able to sit up he was greeted by a swift jab to the stomach. “I deserved that,” Jean coughed as he hugged his abdomen and curled into a ball.

Ymir made an affirmative noise as she walked back to her girlfriend’s side.

Jean rolled himself out of bed and paced his feet on the carpet reluctantly. “Why are you two here anyway? How’d you even get in?!” Jean scratched his head in thought and frowned as his denim jeans from the night before scraped uncomfortably across his legs.

“The guy downstairs recognized us and let us in,” Ymir scoffed. “It’s surprising that no one’s broken in here before.”

Jean shrugged. “There aren’t many people that try to break into a place like this,” he gestured around the room.

“I know you think you’re big shit now, but you still need to get up in the morning, okay?” Historia sighed as she helped Jean off of his bed, her patience obviously starting to wear thin.

“I’m not an old man, I can take care of myself,” Jean defended himself standing on his own feet and walking past the couple and into the living room to get to the kitchen. “Is that really all you two came here for?” Jean questioned suspiciously, opening his fridge and getting out some ingredients to make breakfast, then he looked out of the “window wall” and switched the ingredients for lunch foods, noticing that the sun was pretty high in the sky at this point.

“We just came here to make sure you’re okay,” Historia started hesitantly. “We heard…” she trailed off, unsure of how to say what she meant.

“Marco told us you went stripping, started talking to a stranger, and weren’t answering your phone so he blackmailed us to come check on you,” Ymir stated bluntly.

Jean smiled as he started cooking, Marco always worried too much. “Are you two staying for lunch?” He asked, looking up from a pan that was heating up on the stove.

“Nah,” Ymir shrugged. “You got a lot of calls from a guy whose contact name is “Publisher Asshole”, he called while we were here and the guy said he would be coming to your place right away, should be here any minute.”

“You answered my phone?” Jean asked in surprise.

“Well, he seemed pretty stressed about seeing you as soon as possible,” Historia answered. “Okay, We’ll see you later Jean, call us-“ she looked at Ymir then back at Jean. “Call me if you need anything,” she smiled and dragged Ymir to the elevator and got in. She pressed the button and with a final wave, the two of them were gone.

Jean sighed and continued cooking. _I’ll just make something small in case he already ate._ Jean thought as he began to make some small eclairs, he and Erwin had an intense sweet tooth, it might be the only thing the two had in common. _If I hurry I can make them in about an hour._ Jean quickly got the oven to the right temp and threw the ingredients into a bowl and mixed them up, succeeding to shave off about thirty minutes in prep time, then he tossed the ingredients in the oven.

Jean moved to the couch and started working on his book again. _Might as well get some work done._ Not even a minute later a call from the front desk came to his home phone.

“There is a Mr. Smith here to see you,” the man at the other end said monotonously.

“Thanks, send him up,” Jean permitted and hung up. After another few moments of silence a light ding came from his elevator and a distressed Erwin popped out right next to his kitchen.

"Jean, I don't know what happened but your draft has been regected!" Erwin was gasping for breath, he ran all the way from the front desk to the elevators and was stressing beyond belief.

"What? Why?!" Jean's voice was raised, anxiety showing on his face and in his voice. He stood up and started walking towards Erwin.

"The boss said it was just too predictable!" The two of them were now right in front of one another, screaming at each other as if they were leagues apart. They weren't angry at each other they were just too nerve racked to keep their voices down. "He said you need to change it up!"

"Does he want me to change my genre?! Who does he think I am?" He turned away from Erwin. "Does he want me to make a love story? A non-fiction? What does he want?!" Jean started pacing and grabbed at his hair in frustration.

Erwin took a few breaths then started to calm Jean and himself. "Look,"Erwin started. "He reads a lot of non-fiction I guess..." He looked at Jean then shook his head. "That's not a good idea, you've never done that before...what about something with a twist at the end? A surprise death? A bitter betrayal?" Erwin turned to Jean's couch and sat down, looking at the ceiling in thought.

Jean continued to pace in front of Erwin as he wracked his brain for  _anything_ he thought the publisher would like. He bit on the inside of his cheek. He suddenly looked up at Erwin, a sudden thought hitting him. 

"He just said its predictable right?" He asked, excitedly going over to his computer and opening the draft of his book.

"What're you doing?" Erwin asked, raising an eyebrow. 

Jean smiled mischeviously. "I'm making the story unpredictable." Jean hummed in thought and typed in silence for another thirty minutes then turned the computer around so that it faced Erwin with a smug grin he watched as Erwin's face contorted in thought and surprise.

"Wow, Jean I-" Erwin started but was stopped by a light ding. 

"Oh, the food," Jean got up from the couch and went to the kitchen. Erwin followed him with the computer in his hands, he sat at the counter, starting to talking about the book as Jean got the bread out of the oven and let the bread cool. 

"That's a shocking twist, but I don't know, I think he has some vendetta against you or something," Erwin commented, scratching his chin in thought. 

"I've never even met the guy," Jean frowned as he fanned the bread to make it cool faster. "Why would he dislike me?" 

Erwin shrugged. "Eren hangs around him a lot so maybe the way he talks about you makes Levi subconsciously feel similarly about you."

Jean laughed humorlessly. "That asshole, of course it's his fault," Jean began putting cream inbetween the slices of bread and spread melted chocolate over the top of it. 

"Why are you baking?" Erwin asked, distracted by the smell of sweets in the air.

"I haven't eaten and I wanted to try out a recipe," Jean shrugged, handing Erwin one of the eclairs.

Erwin took a bite. "They're good!" 

Jean smiled and reached for his phone to check the time. "Thanks." 

The phone read "2:34" in black letters. Just then Jean remembered the piece of paper the guy last night had given him.  _I should call that guy later._ He thought, absently taking a bite of the dessert he had laid on the counter.

"So are we done?" Jean asked bluntly. "I'm sorry man, but I have a social life I need to keep together," Jean placed a hand on his hip and waited for Erwin to answer him.

"I guess we're finished, but don't forget, your due date's the same," Erwin sighed as he picked up the small dessert, that looked comical in his large hands.

Jean nodded and walked Erwin the whole ten feet to the elevator. "I'll see you again soon," Jean dismissed as he pressed the button for Erwin.

"Yeah, please, try not to procrastinate on this okay?" Erwin pleaded as the elevator doors opened.

"Sure, sure," Jean agreed quickly, closing off his body language so Erwin would know that their conversation was over.

As soon as Erwin was out of Jean's apartment, Jean rushed to the counter and quickly grabbed his phone before starting to dig in his pockets for the slip of paper. He felt like a teenager again, well, to be honest, his teenage life wasn't that exciting so that's not saying much. 

Regardless, he took out the paper and excitedly typed in the phone number. Only after the phone started ringing did he start to wonder if the man had given him the wrong number. 

 _Why would he do that though?_ he thought to himself reassuringly. He waited impatiently, a tingle rushing across his skin. He had no idea why he was looking forward to hearing the man's voice again. Maybe it was his mysterious nature; maybe it was his gray eyes that seemed to pierce through anything they made contact with.

Jean was so in his head that he didn't notice when the phone stopped ringing until a faintly familiar, husky voice spoke up.

"Hello?" Levi asked on the other end of the line.

"Hey there," Jean felt himself get smaller as he spoke to the man, his nerves and excitement making him want to explode and shrivel into a ball at the same time.

"Oh," the an sounded slightly surprised to hear from Jean. "I didn't think you'd actually call, this is a pleasant surprise." Jean's skin prickled at the tone of Levi's voice, he was almost certain that the short man wore a confident smirk on the other end of the line.

"Life is full of surprises," Jean tried to force his normally confident demeanor out to mask his excitement.

"That it is," The man answered, Jean was starting to wonder if Levi was doing the same thing he was. He listened to Levi's next words and became immediately certain that Levi was being one hundred percent true to himself. "So, I imagine that you called to take up my offer of a date?"

Jean's smile slowly turned into a mischievous grin. "That I am," Jean answered, playing off Levi's earlier words.

"What about I meet you at Red Service, do you know the place?" Levi suggested smugly.

Jean laughed, assuming the pitch was a joke, when Levi didn't join him in his hysteria he stopped dead in his tracks. "Are you kidding me? That's like fifty dollars a plate! We are _not_ going there for our first date." Jean frowned into the phone. _Who goes somewhere like_ that _on their_ first _date?_

"Why?" Levi asked, confusion and hesitation taking over his confidence tone.

"That's a place you take your wife on your fourth anniversary because you don't know what to get her anymore," Jean sighed into the phone. "What about Spencer's?" Jean countered, naming his favorite burger place down the block.

 Levi hummed in thought. "Okay," Levi agreed reluctantly.

"Great, see you at six," Jean smiled, elated at the prospect of going on a date with the man.

"See you then," Levi said, his voice regaining it's confident, and now slightly happy, persona.

Jean hung up the phone and sat on his couch, his enthusiasm causing his knees to weaken. He checked his phone for the time. **3:36** the phone read. _Okay, I still have a couple of hours, oh god what should I wear?_ He wondered, standing again to go to his closet and look at the clothes he had stuffed there.

 He sighed as he held up the different pieces up to his body trying to decide. _I swear to god this date better be worth all my stress._ He scoffed and finally decided on a casual outfit then went back to his computer and typed away the time in between then and the date.

 


	3. Dating Away Worries

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jean is anxious for his meeting with the mysterious stranger from the club. How will it pan out for the young author and his brooding date?

Jean again checked his phone and found that it read 5:40. _I should get going,_ he thought to himself and set his laptop to the side. He had made some pretty significant progress solidifying the plot change and editing out some parts of the story that would no longer make sense. His mind raced with the ideas he had for his book but he forced them down and pulled on a coat before getting into his elevator. There were no doubt some perks to having an elevator attached to your apartment. It saved him the hassle of talking to neighbors and explaining his unusually chipper attitude.

Once Jean had gotten to the lobby he waved at the person behind the desk and walked out onto the busy sidewalk outside. Saturday brought many more people to the streets, much to Jean's dismay.

He tried to subdue his smile as he walked to Spencer's, it wasn't that far and Jean hadn't been out all day. A sudden buzzing in Jean's pocket alerted him of an incoming call. He dug out the phone and sighed as "Publisher Asshole" shone bright against a black background. He slid his finger across the screen to accept the call and brought the phone up to his ear.

"What's up?" Jean asked, slightly annoyed.

"Don't worry, it's good news, I promise," Erwin assured, hearing Jean's aggravation. "The boss liked the new plot line, he seemed to be in a good mood," Erwin explained, curiosity painting his tone.

"That's amazing news!" Jean exclaimed, catching a few eyes turning to him, he ignored them. _Today has been great, first the date and now this,_ Jean smiled proudly, Erwin's boss wasn't an easy man to please.

"We should get drinks later to celebrate," Erwin suggested.

"Don't start getting your hopes up so soon," Jean discouraged. "I'm only a quarter of the way through writing the book. We can get drinks once it's published," he finished, the slightest hint of a laugh creeping into his words from Erwin's excitement on his behalf.

"You're right," Erwin sighed. "So where are you? It sounds loud." 

"I'm on my way to a date," Jean answered proudly, he and Erwin didn't share a lot about their personal lives, but Erwin had commented more than once about the emptiness of Jean's apartment.

"Well that's surprising," Erwin mocked. "Who did you trick into going on a date with you?"

"Hey he came up to me okay?" Jean knew Erwin was teasing but he couldn't help the tiny bit of defensiveness that slipped into his voice. "Anyway, I gotta go, I'm almost at the restaurant."

"Alright champ, tell me how it goes," he seemed to remember something. "Oh and Jean-"

"Okay, talk to you later, bye," Jean hung up before Erwin could finish, he wouldn't let Erwin ruin his good mood with whatever he had to say.

Jean then found himself right in front of the rag-tag restaurant. He checked his watch, it was only 5:55. He thought about whether he should stay outside a bit longer and wait for Levi, but quickly changed his mind and walked inside. One quick look around the restaurant and Jean saw that Levi was already inside, looking above the cash register at the menu on the wall. Jean smiled at Levi's inquisitive expression and walked up beside him.

"Hey there," Jean felt his expression tense when he saw the irritation on Levi's face, but just as it was there, it was gone again. The quickness of the change was almost enough to convince Jean that he had imagined it,  _almost_. 

"Hi," Levi returned Jean's smile, although the gesture looked a little awkward, like he was just as unsure of what to do as Jean was. Jean was quick to admit that he was a flirt in college, but now...he was out of practice with romantic relationships. 

"Do you know what you want?" Jean asked, much more aware of himself than usual. Making sure to keep a friendly, yet respectable distance; glancing down at his clothes to make sure they were straight, and checking his reflection in any reflective surface to reassure himself that he looked fine. 

"Yeah, I think so," Levi answered, walking up to the person at the register. He swiftly placed his order and paid.

Jean got his usual order and followed Levi to the soda fountain, then they sat at a table. The restaurant was just as quiet as usual, only a few people ate, talking in reasonably quiet voices. 

The silence between Levi and Jean lingered, Jean could tell that Levi was the kind of person that didn't mind sitting in silence with someone. Jean didn't mind silence either, but he was eager to know more about the man that had approached him at the strip club.

Jean cleared his throat before speaking. "So, do you go to strip clubs a lot?" Jean immediately wanted to punch himself in the face. What a way to start a conversation, not that Jean wasn't curious. 

"Not on my own, I was with a new client, it's a quick way to break the ice," Levi answered coolly. "Do you strip a lot?" Levi shot back with a raised eyebrow.

Jean laughed nervously. "No, I used to...my friend got me to do it," Jean took a sip of his drink. 

"You have some interesting friends," Levi mumbled.

"Yeah, but it makes life more fun," Jean agreed. 

The food they had ordered was brought to them by a kind young woman that couldn't have been older than nineteen. 

"Thank you," Jean and Levi said in unison before starting to eat their food. 

They ate in relative silence and Jean was about to call this date over when Levi touched his shoulder. Jean was a bit startled, considering that they had kept their hands to themselves the entire date. 

"You wouldn't happen to know where the Treston Residence, is would you?" He asked formally.

Jean couldn't help but feel a little weird about the sudden formality, but he nodded. "I live there."

"Great, I have to meet someone there to go over some work stuff," Levi said. 

"Okay, it's just down the block, I'll walk you there," Jean smiled, but his happy attitude waned at the formal wall that Levi had suddenly put up. "Uh, Levi?"

Levi turned to Jean. "Yes?"

Jean shook his head, and decided to ask another question that might also answer the first. "Did you have a good time? I know we didn't really do anything, and I'm not great at small talk-" Jean was starting to feel anxiety eating at him. What if he blew it? Would Levi ever talk to him again? He kind of liked Levi, he seemed interesting, and-

"Jean," Levi said sternly, ripping Jean from his thoughts. He hadn't realized it before, but now he saw that they had stopped on the edge of the side walk and annoyed people pushed passed them and gave them dirty looks. But the only thing Jean was paying attention to was Levi, a small, genuine smile on his face. "It was a nice date," Levi reassured him, then he reached down and gave Jean's hand a firm squeeze.

Jean's heart hammered against his chest, his anxiousness and the coldness of the hand on his warm one sending his heart into overdrive. Jean smiled back and whispered a small thank you that only Levi could hear, and they walked to the Residence, hand-in-hand.  


End file.
